Four Beetdiggers move on

By Brandon Boles Fort Morgan Times Sports Writer

Posted:
02/19/2016 08:12:38 AM MST

Updated:
02/19/2016 08:13:53 AM MST

Brush freshman Oswaldo Nunez (top) keeps Matthew Broughton of Montezuma-Cortez down on the mat in the third period of their preliminary match at the Pepsi Center in the 2016 state tournament. Nunez came back for a 5-1 decision win. (Brandon Boles/Times)

The Brush Beetdiggers had a solid start Thursday afternoon to the 2016 state wrestling tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Six athletes took to the mats in preliminary round action, and four picked up wins.The first win came from sophomore Caleb Cox at 106 pounds. He wrestled Aaron Gonzales of Mullen in one of the first 10 matches to kick off the state tournament. Cox started strong and was able to lock in a pin late in the first round at 1:44, advancing him to the quarterfinals.One of the bigger upsets in terms of seeding came from freshman Oswaldo Nunez at 120 pounds. The 13 seed Nunez squared off with Matthew Broughton of Montezuma-Cortez. Broughton tripped Nunez down to the mat, and late in the first period Nunez escaped to neutral position. In the second period, Broughton went down to start, and Nunez prevented him from getting to his feet or sticking a reversal. No points were scored, and Nunez trailed 2-1 in the third period. Midway through the final period, Nunez got a reversal for two points and the lead, and was also given one more point due to a stalling violation from Broughton. Nunez held his foe down late to get the 4-2 decision. Shortly after the win by Nunez, freshman Wyatt Pfau made his state debut at 126 pounds against Rodney Atencio of Doherty. Pfau scored early with takedowns and back points to get a lead, but Atencio made things interesting in the third period by scoring himself to get back into the match.

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The scoring early in the match made the difference, and Pfau advanced to the quarterfinals with a 10-8 decision win. He will face top seed Kyle Cisneros of Jefferson next.Both sophomore Jeron Petterson and senior Arnoldo Maltos-Garcia wrested at the same time for the Beetdiggers. Petterson could not find many ways to score against Hayden Johnson of Steamboat Springs, only getting an escape to neutral position in the third period. Five points from Johnson was more than enough to get the 5-1 decision win. As for Maltos-Garcia, he scored six points in the first period and finished the second period strong with a pin at 3:59.The last match of the preliminary round for Brush came at 285 with Andrew Guzman. The junior faced Sam deSeriere of Mullen, the top seed in the bracket. An early takedown from deSeriere and cradle scored points, and another move gave him the pin over Guzman in 51 seconds.Four Beetdiggers move on to the quarterfinals and 12 team points were rewarded to Brush for their work in the preliminary round. Cox, Nunez, Pfau, and Maltos-Garcia will all begin the state tournament Friday at 10 a.m. Following the quarterfinal matches, Petterson and Guzman will compete in the first consolation round late in the morning.

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